Another Hospital Stay....

Well I haven't felt well for the last couple weeks. I have been in this cycle where I will be ok for a few days, and feel crummy for a few days, or a week. I do my best to ignore it, and just go with the flow. I missed sacrament meeting one week, and then all of church the next week. The next week when we were camping I didn't feel great when we got there and and felt better the last couple of days. And then last Monday I felt great and I made homemade raspberry jam, fruit leather, and a raspberry cheesecake all in one day! I LOVE raspberries if you cant tell! It's amazing what you can do with a little energy.

The next few days were bad again. The last couple hours of work on Wednesday my stomach started to hurt more than normal. Luckily I didn't have cub scouts that night so I went home and went to bed. The next day I made it to work and just dealt with it all day but it just kept getting worse. I ate breakfast and didn't have any output from my ileostomy. My stomach felt hard and distended. This happens to me sometimes and then it will get better in a few hours. I laid in bed from about 4 to 8. Finally I was crying and we decided to go the ER. I hate going to the hospital and I knew that the wait would definitely be longer than it was in Twin. We waited for about an hour and a half, during which time I cried. I was nauseated and was dry heaving. Once I got triaged they said that I would be the next person taken back, ahead of everyone else. I cried until I got an IV started with pain and nausea meds that kicked in immediately, for which I was so grateful. We weren't in the ER for very long. They took x-rays and said it didn't really show anything, but I think it was pretty obvious I had some kind of obstruction. Blood work showed I was really dehydrated and my white blood cell count was a little high. They put in an NG tube to suction, and then they admitted me pretty quickly.

It was a rough first night. I had to share a room and I wasn't happy. The other lady had several people that kept coming in to see her (she was just being admitted too), and it was like one in the morning. I asked for a private room right away and the charge nurse said there weren't any available, but when people discharged in the morning, I should be able to get one. In the morning the other patient was taken to surgery snd didnt come back to my room. I wasn't a fan of the nurse that night either. She wouldn't listen to me or Chris and would walk away when I was in mid-sentance. I ended up throwing up (which is really unpleasant with an NG tube down your nose and throat, btw), and about 10 minutes later I asked her what time I could have more zofran (nausea med). She said, "well, are you nauseated?" Uh, hello! I just threw up! She said it would be awhile because I had had it in the ER, but she would check. I never heard from her. A couple hours later I asked the aid to ask her and she came back and said there wasn't an order from the doctor for it, and to get one they would have to call him. I said, "can we call him?!" She said, "well I can see if she will try." I said, "I can't go all night with no zofran!" So finally I was able to get more. The doctor I saw was a GI surgeon. He wasn't really sure what caused the obstruction but said something about scar tissue possibly being a reason. The obstruction started to resolve so he told me when I felt like I was tolerating food that I could go home.

Friday I kept asking about a private room and they kept telling me I would get one, and then finally the nurse said "The problem is everyone wants a private room." She was a really nice nurse, so I know she was doing what she could. But they did eventually block off the other bed in my room so that no one else could be admitted there, which was nice. Chris got a cot to sleep on, instead of the plastic recliner he had the first night. Friday evening they took out the NG tube and I got a full liquid diet. I was nauseated and dry heaved after dinner, and was only to eat a little pudding, and was nauseated after breakfast the next morning. I was also nauseated every time I got out of bed, it was awful. My pain was pretty well controlled, until the middle of the night Friday night (technically Sat morning). When it was time for my next zofran dose the nurse noted that my IV wasn't good anymore. She paged IV Therapy to come put in a new one and they took about half an hour to come. She also took out the old IV so I couldn't even get pain relief during this time. It was getting bad like when I was in the ER. I asked for a warm blanket to put on my tummy in the meantime, and it took forever and calling more than once to get one. I realize nurses are busy, but people kept walking into my room and asking what I needed, and never coming back. Finally when I got a new IV, someone I didn't know came in and said they were going to give me zofran, and then saw my nurse out in the hall so decided to let her do it, and it took even longer. I just wanted to say SOMEBODY give me some zofran. An hour after I was supposed to, I finally got the medicine I needed.

Anyway, Saturday night the doctor upgraded my diet to a post-surgical diet (basically kind of bland food), and when I ordered the kitchen didn't send anything because they didn't know my diet was changed yet. When the nurse called again for me, they didn't have any food left except for the type of food I'd already been eating, like yogurt, juice, jello, ice cream, etc. The whole point of me staying Saturday night was to see if I could handle real food so Chris went to KFC and got me some mashed potatoes and macaroni, which i was able to handle better. That night I slept ALL night! I finally got my sleeping pill, (the dr forgot to order my home meds for me originally),

and didn't wake up one time during the night. The nurse told me when I went to bed that they wouldn't wake me up to take vitals or anything. It was great. I was finally starting to feel better so the doctor switched me to oral pain meds and the next morning came and said I could go home. I was definitely not how I wanted to spend my weekend and we were pretty darn bored, but we got through it, and Chris took good care of me. Today I got another Remicade infusion, and I'm hoping to feel even better. I actually asked if they could give it to me in the hospital, so I wouldn't have to get up early today to go, and get another IV, but the GI surgeon said that he asked the regular GI dr who said I would have to go the doctor's office like normal. Today when I went the nurse told my GI doctor, who said that they probably didn't even call the GI doctor on call, or else he would have come to see me and given me the remicade, which they do for pt's in the hospital all the time. Oh well.  The infusion went well and I didn't get any red spots, because of the steroids they gave me beforehand. made me promise that I would not do anything today, no cooking, no cleaning, or anything. So I am sitting here watching Gilmore Girls (which always cheers me up) like a good girl while I type. I plan to go to work tomorrow, so we will see how that goes. I plan on going to bed early tonight. :) I also finished these shoes today, another Pinterest find. They didn't turn out exactly the same size, but you can't really tell when they are on my feet. :)

On Saturday night our Home Teacher came and gave me a nice blessing. It was comforting and helped me feel better. I know when these things happen my Heavenly Father gives me these trials because He knows I can handle it. I really do think there will come a day where I will start to really feel better and won't have to deal with this as much. I know it is something that will always be there, but I also know that I will have periods where I can go on and have a normal life and have children, etc. My patriarchal blessing states that I will be able to bring spirits into this world, so for now I just continue to try to have faith and patience and wait for that time to come. I'm trying to take care of myself and drink fluids and eat. I am feeling ok today, mostly just tired, but it will pass. I am thankful this wasn't anything worse, and that I didn't require surgery or anything. I am thankful for all the wonderful love and prayers that were sent on my behalf, and especially grateful for that great husband of mine who was by my side almost every minute. Well that's all for now, hopefully the next post will be happier and healthier!

Here are some pics from the hospital stay:

 This was in the ER. Don't laugh because I brought my own blanket. I'm like a little kid!

 My room was really hot the whole time, even with the temperature turned down all the way, so I was trying to cool myself off with my water and ice next to my face.

The bruise the first IV made.

  

The second IV.